Tik Tok’s Hanger Challenge is Back and Heads are Turning
The Hanger Challenge of 2020 is alive and well in 2022 if you can believe contributors on the social media platform Tik Tok. The viral "challenge" first burst upon the scene in the year 2020 but for some reason, it is making comeback in 2022.
The challenge itself is as simple as it is stupid. All you need to take the hanger challenge is a coat hanger, a camera, and a desire to look "unique" in front of the entire Internet. Simply spread the coat hanger wide enough so that you can place it on your head like a hat.
The challenge states that "pressure from the hanger" will force the wearer to turn their heads. It's being called the "hanger reflex" and no, not everyone experiences it. For example, this poster on Instagram just looked rather stupid without any of the "joy" of experiencing the "hanger reflex"
Now, these folks had a little different experience with the "hanger challenge".
The challenge has actually been studied since 1991 and there was a report issued on the findings of one of those studies in 2015. That study suggested this,
when the head is encircled with a wire cloth hanger and the unilateral frontotemporal region is compressed, the head rotates unexpectedly. As the mechanism is unclear, however, we have temporarily named this phenomenon the hanger reflex.
The study showed that a majority of the adults that took part in the survey did turn their heads or felt like turning their heads when a coat hanger was placed on their heads and applied pressure to the frontotemporal regions on both sides of the head.
So far there doesn't appear to be an inherent danger from the "hanger challenge" other than the fact that you have a piece of metal wrapped tightly around your head. I am sure there are other factors to consider, so if you do plan on trying the hanger challenge, please do so at your own risk.
And if you're looking for reasons to act even dumber, don't forget these blasts from the past. I am sure they will be resurfacing as well.
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